


Test Me

by Applesandbannas747



Series: Kiss Me [2]
Category: Fence (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 07:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26469649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesandbannas747/pseuds/Applesandbannas747
Summary: An unsuccessful date drives Jesse to doubt his expertise and techniques in certain areas and, to Eugene's utter surprise, a teasing offer to test them is taken at face value. And, well, he can't say no to that, can he?
Relationships: Eugene Labao/Jesse Coste
Series: Kiss Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923718
Comments: 62
Kudos: 44





	1. Testing the Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Tris, this one’s for you, bud.   
> In my brain, this was the flip side to the story but I was decidedly _not_ going to write it because of the obvious leap in logic that Seiji would e v e r agree to go on a date with Jesse. But you asked me if Gene got to kiss Jesse in like chapter 1 of Teach Me and it seemed mean to know that there WERE Eugesse kisses in this fic universe but to not share them with you so here we are. Enjoy 💜

Eugene watched with dull amusement as the blond figure tried to ease open the door at the top of the concrete stairs.

“It doesn’t open without a key,” Eugene said, throwing the guy a bone. He jumped and spun guiltily.

“I wasn’t trying anything,” he said unconvincingly.

“Uh-huh. Word to the wise, next time you come skulking around a school that isn’t yours, maybe ditch the uniform, yeah?”

Jesse Coste looked down at himself as if he’d somehow forgotten he was wearing the ridiculous all-white uniform of Exton Boys Academy.

“I’m not skulking. I was looking for someone, actually. He won’t pick up my calls.”

“Ah, so you’re _stalking._ My mistake.”

“No. I just want to talk.”

“I’m certain Seiji doesn’t want to talk to you, bro.” Eugene laughed over Jesse’s surprised expression at the name. “Who else would you be here trying to talk to here?”

“What did he say about me?”

“What? Nothing. Why would he be saying anything about you?”

“Besides the obvious? No matter, I know he’s always thinking about me.”

Eugene squinted at Jesse, trying to decide if he was being real or not.

“Listen, if he’s not picking up your calls, he doesn’t want to talk to you. Scoot on back to Exton where you belong. Come on now, be gone.” Eugene shooed Jesse away from the back entrance to Castello Dormitory but Jesse refused to be shooed.

“I need to talk to him.”

“What about?”

“About—something.”

“Very descriptive.”

“Can you let me in?”

“Sure, I can let you in.” At Eugene’s words, Jesse perked. “But I won’t.”

“I just need to ask him something,” Jesse persisted. “I’ll be quick.”

“No way.”

“What are you? Seiji’s bodyguard?”

Eugene crossed his arms. “I can be, yeah. Nobody messes with my bros.”

“I’m not trying to mess with him. _He_ messed with _me.”_

That got Eugene’s attention. His eyebrow ticked up in curiosity but Jesse looked displeased at the slip.

“What did Seiji ever do to you?” Eugene asked, having a hard time imagining that Seiji had been able to say any of the usual condescending stuff to Jesse that pissed other people off so badly. Most of Seiji’s cutting remarks were about fencing and Jesse was as good a fencer as Seiji. A better fencer, even. What could he have said that cut Jesse Coste?

“He—we went out last week and he left rather abruptly,” Jesse muttered.

“Seiji didn’t go on a date with you,” Eugene protested, thinking of his hand in Nick’s after practice this morning.

“That’s why I need to find him,” Jesse wheedled. “So that I can ask him what that was all about.”

“Use your brain, dummy. If Seiji left abruptly, he didn’t want to be there and if he’s not picking up your calls, he doesn’t want to talk to you. Take a hint.”

“I have—that is, I know. I’ll leave him alone.” Jesse made a face. “As if I’d ever stoop so low as to _chase_ somebody. Do you know who I am? I just need to ask him something.”

“Like what?”

“Like if I’m really a terrible kisser,” Jesse blurted.

“Seiji said that?” Eugene asked, and Jesse nodded sullenly, face a little flushed at the admission.

Eugene roared in laughter. That sounded like Seiji. The guy did _not_ fuck around sparing feelings, he said what he meant and if you were hurt by it, that was your problem. But Jesse _did_ look hurt by it. Or, at least, he looked quite upset about it. Upset enough about it to try and sneak into a rarely-used back entrance of Seiji’s dorm to ask him about it.

“Nah, don’t worry about that,” Eugene said, taking pity on the guy. Eugene could imagine that it was a bit of a punch to the ego, getting told you were a terrible kisser and then getting walked out on. Even Jesse Coste probably didn’t deserve that level of thoughtlessness. “I think it’s less that you’re a bad kisser and more that Seiji wanted to be kissing someone else.”

Again, Eugene thought of Nick and Seiji’s laced fingers recently. And he swore he’d seen a hickey on Seiji’s neck, too, hiding under the collar of his turtleneck. The two hadn’t mentioned anything about dating but Eugene wasn’t stupid, he knew they were a thing.

“But what if I am?” Jesse asked, a definite pout marring his features. “What if I’m an atrocious kisser and nobody’s ever told me because I’m gorgeous and amazing and talented so they let me get away with it?”

And again, Eugene laughed. _What a brat._

“Well, hey,” Eugene said, residual grin left in place, “I could offer you my objective opinion if you’d like.”

“Yes,” Jesse said, zero hesitation. _What?_ “Do that.”

“What?”

“Test me.” Jesse stood tall and imperious and looked down on Eugene expectantly. “I need to know if I’m really a terrible kisser.”

“You’re serious?”

“Completely.”

“Here?”

“Kiss me,” Jesse demanded impatiently.

Eugene took another second to stare blankly at Jesse but he shrugged in the end, deciding that he’d never said no to those words before and he wasn’t going to start now.

“If you insist,” Eugene agreed, pushing off the metal rail he’d leaned a hip against to watch Jesse struggle with the door.

As Eugene approached Jesse, he fully expected him to duck away, to change his mind, to say that _of course I don’t insist, why would I let you kiss me?_ But Jesse did none of these things. He stayed in place and was there when Eugene’s hand reached out to take hold of him, drawing him near and kissing him testingly on the mouth.

It was a strange thing, to kiss a stranger at dusk at the top of oft-forgotten stairs just to test the quality of kisses had there. So it wasn’t a surprise that this first kiss for testing the waters was nothing more than a press of lips, a little stiff and unsure. But it soon melted into a proper kiss, Jesse’s body molding pleasantly to Eugene’s and his hands tucking up into his hair, pulling Eugene’s mouth more firmly to his.

Eugene felt the shift at once and was sure that this was really happening and Jesse was entirely sure he wanted it to be—no matter his reasons for that want. So Eugene’s next kiss was not for testing the waters but for diving into them. Jesse’s mouth was pliant beneath his and opened easily upon Eugene’s request, and he reacted nicely to the deepening of the kiss, his hands tangling deeper into hair and his breath hitching appreciatively.

Jesse’s skin was smooth and soft under Eugene’s hand and Eugene could feel Jesse’s jaw working beneath it before he slipped it from Jesse’s cheek to grip the nape of his neck instead. His skin was soft here, too, and Eugene’s pinky finger dipped beneath the crisp white collar of Jesse’s sharply pressed white shirt.

Kissing Jesse felt almost like fighting him; Jesse’s insistence and fervor in his kisses and the rigid, possessive quality to his hold were almost overwhelming, but not in an unpleasant way. Eugene liked a challenge, liked the rush of sensations and the determination with which Jesse gave them. It made him want to give them back.

Eugene scruffed his hand up into Jesse’s hair to cradle the crown of his skull, his other hand finding the dip of Jesse’s spine. With a solid grip of Jesse’s lithe body, Eugene guided him back until he landed against the door that had refused to open for him, making sure not to crack Jesse’s head against it. With the way Jesse moved, Eugene didn’t trust him not to accidentally crack it himself so he kept his hand as it was, acting as a cushion for when Jesse whipped his head about too recklessly.

Jesse wasn’t shy, not even given their rather exposed location. He made no effort to hide anything he did or anything he felt. It didn’t take long for Eugene to discover what Jesse liked because he’d arch his back into Eugene or clamp his fingers in his hair or let out noises too obscene to be earned just from kissing. But earned they were. When Eugene sucked on a bottom lip or when he strayed to tease a pink ear or when he flicked his tongue _just so_ —Jesse let it be known in each instance that he liked it _._

Jesse proved to be very enjoyable to kiss. So enjoyable that Eugene didn’t bother pulling off him and away even though he had a definitive answer to offer Jesse by now. Jesse made no indication that he wanted Eugene to leave him, either.

If kissing Jesse before had been like fighting him, the fight had left from him now, the flavor of his kisses calming as Eugene held him against the door—they were no less enthusiastic, but Eugene no longer felt in danger of toppling down the stairs under the weight of that enthusiasm.

“Ah!” Jesse gasped when Eugene’s lips dragged down his neck. His skin really was impossibly soft and Eugene was struck with the urge to feel more of it under fingers and lips and tongue.

Jesse didn’t look like he’d mind. His head was tipped back against the door and his eyes were closed, lips parted and glistening. Pressed chest to chest as they were, Eugene could feel Jesse’s heart pounding in time with his own. And he realized with amusement that Jesse, who had stood several inches taller than Eugene at the start of this, was now at eye level. He’d sunk against the door and Eugene realized further that he was at least half the reason Jesse didn’t sink down more, the brace of Eugene’s body against his and the hold of his hand at Jesse’s waist keeping him in place.

They’d be in trouble if someone tried to open the door.

The thought brought Eugene back to reality and, after stealing one final kiss from Jesse, he helped prop him up and left the rest of his skin unexplored.

“I really don’t think you should worry,” Eugene said, clearing his throat and looking Jesse over with, he had to admit, a bit more appreciation than he’d held for the boy before. “You’re plenty good to kiss.”

“Not terrible, then?” Jesse asked, somewhat out of breath.

“Not terrible,” Eugene confirmed. “Now get back to your own campus, you psycho. I don’t want to report any stalkers to the campus police if I can help it.”

Jesse rolled his eyes but left his station at the door. On his way down the stairs, Eugene reached out to pat off the grime dusting the white of his jacket. Jesse realized what the purpose of Eugene’s touch was and hurried to shrug out of his jacket, examining the damage with a scowl.

“Look what you’ve done,” he scolded, folding the jacket over his arm delicately.

“You asked for it,” Eugene countered.

“You should have been more careful anyway.”

“I’ll keep it in mind for next time,” Eugene promised with a cheeky grin as Jesse trotted down the stairs.

They both knew there wouldn’t be a next time.


	2. Wait For Me

“You!” A voice called on Eugene’s way into practice a week later. There was no one else around him in the dewy morning so Eugene looked for the source of the voice and watched as a shadow peeled himself away from the side of the fencing salle.

“You got the first half,” he said, strolling up to the tall blond shadow. “Do you know the second half?”

“What are you talking about?” Jesse asked impatiently.

“My name,” Eugene explained. “Do you know it?”

“Why would I?”

“It’s weird enough stalking people in the first place, but at least you knew Seiji’s name, that’s all I’m saying.”

“I’m not stalking. I only wanted to continue our talk from Monday night.”

“If you’re here to saddle me with a dry-cleaning bill, I’ve got bad news for you.”

“And what’s that?”

“That you’re accountable for your own actions.”

“I don’t remember shoving myself into a door.”

“Really? I do.”

“Are you going to tell me your name or not?”

“Eugene.” He offered out a hand. Jesse took it in a firm shake and with another dramatic roll of dramatic blue eyes. “What can I do for you this fine morning?”

“I had a date last night.”

“Oh?”

“Our chemistry was off.”

“So who was the bad kisser in the equation?” Eugene asked, bemused.

“Him, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Eugene repeated in a drawl. “But last time I saw you, you were so worried you were a terrible kisser.”

“You convinced me otherwise.”

“Hey, happy to help,” Eugene said magnanimously. “All in a day’s work.”

“If you’re happy to help,” Jesse said, leaning in with a smile stretched smugly across his face, “convince me again.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Eugene considered and couldn’t come up with a good answer.

“I’ve got fencing.”

“I’ve got time.”

Eugene considered Jesse. Seiji would be in the gym by now; if Jesse had wanted to corner him, he could have already. So Eugene fished his keys out of his bag and tossed them to Jesse, who caught them with surprise.

“Room 107. Wait for me. And try not to break anything.”

“You trust me to go to your room?” Jesse asked, incredulous. “Alone?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I could steal something or—or—I don’t know, but don’t you think it’s a bad idea to just _give_ people your keys?”

“Give them back then, if you’re so concerned about it,” Eugene said, holding out a hand. Jesse closed the keys in his fist and drew it to his chest.

“No, you already gave them to me.”

“I like to believe the best in people. Don’t prove me wrong.”

With a peace sign thrown over his shoulder, Eugene continued on to practice. 

* * *

Eugene walked into his room nearly three hours later to find Jesse Coste sitting on his bed. It was true that he’d given Jesse the keys to his room and told him to wait here for him to be done fencing, but Eugene hadn’t really expected him to stick around.

But Jesse had stayed and waited, his shoes tucked under Eugene’s bed and his legs tucked under him on Eugene’s bed. He wasn’t in uniform today, just a simple navy v-neck and jeans that had to have been specially tailored for him with the way they fit. His sweater was neatly folded over the chair at Eugene’s desk, out of harm’s way. Not that there was much harm that could come to it in here.

“About time,” Jesse said, looking up from his phone with a flick of unimpressed eyes. “You would think the promise of a—not to brag—gorgeous boy on your bed waiting to be kissed would hurry up your morning a little.”

Eugene snorted, dropping his bag on his way to the bed.

“You’re the one that turned up unannounced, bud. I have a life and I can’t always drop it to kiss boys who show up demanding it.”

He didn’t mention to Jesse that he _had_ hurried up his morning. Usually, he liked to hit the weight room after fencing and cool down with a protein shake.

“And how was I meant to announce I was coming? You didn’t give me your number.”

“You didn’t ask for it.”

“I don’t have to ask for boys’ numbers, Eugene,” Jesse said in an overly patient way.

“Fascinating. You won’t ask for numbers or names, but you _will_ ask for kisses. You’ve got a strange sense of pride. How’d you know where to find me, anyway?”

“Obviously you fence if you think you’re friends with Seiji.”

“Fair point,” Eugene conceded. Seiji didn’t talk to people outside of the context of fencing. Except for Nick.

Jesse clicked off his phone and tossed it carelessly on the nightstand, leaning back on a propped arm and cocking his head at Eugene. It was obvious he was bored of this conversation. He’d come for one reason and Eugene had to admit it was a little gratifying to have a boy come from an entirely different school and wait three hours just to kiss him. He must have had a _very_ unsatisfactory date last night.

Eugene crawled onto the bed, Jesse’s head tipping up lazily to look at him as he hovered. But when Eugene kissed him, there was nothing lazy about Jesse’s interest. He immediately found Eugene’s arm to clutch and pull around him, the other fitting against his neck. This, of course, had the effect of moving all support out from under Jesse’s torso and for a moment, Eugene was the only thing holding him up. He lowered them both as carefully as possible to the bed and Jesse squirmed beneath him, rearranging his long, slim limbs.

“I’ve never been here before,” Jesse commented when his mouth slid from Eugene’s.

“If you’d been in my dorm before, I really _would_ be calling campus security right now.”

Jesse laughed. The breathless quality to that laugh made it unlike any Eugene had heard from Jesse before. He liked it.

“I wasn’t talking about the room.”

“I know.”

Jesse’s body relaxed deeper into the mattress and he closed his eyes with a hum.

“What do you think?” He asked. “Am I irresistible like this?”

“You’re something,” Eugene said, following up the assertion with a kiss, which gave Jesse close enough to the answer he’d been hoping for.

Jesse was as good to kiss now as he had been that first time. Eugene had been on a couple dates lately and he could relate to Jesse’s problem. No chemistry. But they had plenty of it between them, mouths and bodies fitting together in ways worthy of fireworks.

“The dorms here have thin walls,” Eugene warned on the tail end of a loud moan from Jesse.

Jesse looped his arms tightly around Eugene’s neck and pulled himself up to meet Eugene’s lips again, unhappy, it would seem, with how far above him Eugene had been holding himself. Now Jesse held himself there too. Eugene didn’t mind the extra weight of it at all.

“I don’t care,” Jesse said, brushing his lips against Eugene’s tantalizingly. Then, in his ear, “Do you?”

“Not at all.” Eugene turned his head to recapture Jesse’s lips briefly. “But it’s your fault if rumors start.”

“And it’s your problem if they do.”

“You say that now, but I don’t want any complaints from you if someone sees you leave here.”

“I maintain my right to complain about whatever I like.”

“And I maintain my right to shut you up however I like.”

Eugene lifted an arm, shifting their full weight onto his left arm so he could wrap his right one around Jesse and take hold of his head to keep it in place as he kissed open that mouth again. When Eugene’s grip tightened in Jesse’s hair, he inhaled sharply.

“That’s not going to shut me up,” he said.

Eugene chuckled, dropping them both to the mattress and twisting them so they faced each other on their sides. He drew Jesse to him again.

“I guess shutting you up isn’t my goal right now,” he admitted, and Jesse sneaked closer up against him, smug smile firmly in place until Eugene kissed it apart.


	3. Convenient Coincidence

Eugene jogged along the narrow road that outlined the woods near campus. The evening was perfect for a run—crisp enough to cool you down but not deep enough into autumn to darken the night unduly and make it impossible not to trip on tree roots. The road was trundling and usually void of passing cars, so the sound of an approaching vehicle was enough to make Eugene shoot a glance over his shoulder in some approximation of interest.

His interest sharpened right away. Not because of the sleek silver car that glinted in the subtle rays of a lowering sun. Because of the driver he recognized even at a glance through the windshield. Wide eyes met his for only a moment and then the car was past him. But it pulled off the road to settle in the spry dirt not far ahead.

Eugene continued his jog, only slowing when the expensive, sleek boy stepped out from his expensive, sleek car.

“Should I be worried?” Eugene asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Coincidence this time,” Jesse said airily. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“So then why’d you stop?”

“As long as I’m here already, why not take advantage of the convenient coincidence?”

“Solid argument,” Eugene nodded. “And who doesn’t have ‘making out in the woods’ on their bucket list?”

Jesse gave him a judgmental look for that but double-clicked the lock on his fob and, when the car honked in assurance, Jesse slipped the key into his pocket and held out his newly empty hand to Eugene.

“You had better not get us lost in here,” he said as Eugene took the offered hand and laced their fingers together with an emotion bordering the line between bafflement and amusement.

_Holding hands with Jesse Cost, who would have thought?_

Not Eugene, that was for sure. Each time Jesse appeared in his life asking for kisses, Eugene expected it to be the last. But three times was too many to be written off.

As Eugene led Jesse into the edge of sprawling wood, he wondered if three times would become four. He didn’t get much time to ponder the question, though, because as soon as they were sufficiently covered by foliage, Jesse wrapped his free hand in the collar of Eugene’s tracksuit and pulled him in with no preamble, warning, or shame, to the wide trunk of a tree, demanding Eugene’s weight against him and his mouth on his.

“Careful,” Eugene said, breaking away from Jesse’s kiss, arm braced against the bark by Jesse’s head. “Your shirt might snag. Or get dirty.”

Jesse wasn’t in his pristine white Exton uniform, but he didn’t look thrilled at the idea of dirtying this shirt either. Maybe Eugene shouldn’t have pointed it out because it had brought things to a halt, though Jesse still slumped back against the tree with fingers tangled up in Eugene. But it was better, he figured, to issue the warning now than deal with the inevitable complaints and accusations later. Jesse rolled the problem over in his mind. At last, he stood up properly and Eugene assumed he was meant to back off and let Jesse off the tree, but he didn’t get so far. One hand still clutching Eugene’s collar, Jesse held it steady in place as he slipped his other hand from Eugene’s and brought it up to unzip Eugene’s jacket.

“Lend me this,” he said in answer to Eugene’s confusion.

“I guess that makes more sense than what I thought you were up to,” Eugene said with a chuckle and a shake of his head at the half-formed thought Jesse’s determined undressing of him had first conjured up. He let Jesse pull the jacket off him and pull it on himself instead.

Jesse made a face at him. “Don’t get weird ideas in your head.”

“You’re the one putting them there,” Eugene pointed out. He spread his hand over Jesse’s chest and pushed him back against the tree. “And now those ideas _are_ in my head.”

Jesse might have had something to say to that but Eugene swallowed his words and Jesse didn’t put up a fight over it. Nor did he stop Eugene from trailing his hand down the length of his stomach and then teasing up the hem of the shirt Jesse had been unwilling to sacrifice to the tree.

As expected, Jesse’s skin was soft beneath Eugene’s fingers. Sensitive, too. Jesse shuttered at this new layer of touching and it made Eugene kiss against his mouth harder. Despite the growing desire that made Eugene’s fingertips burn with the need to feel more of Jesse, Eugene was slow in his exploration of stomach and sides and chest. He wanted to savor Jesse’s reactions. And he wanted to give Jesse plenty of time to stop him if he wanted. But he didn’t. Jesse only leaned in more, held tighter, kissed harder, and pulled more insistently at Eugene’s hair and shirt, urging him closer and asking, Eugene was pretty sure, for more.

Eugene was happy to give it, pressing fingers over sensitive skin and then sliding his hand to the arch in Jesse’s back, pressing Jesse into him and against the tree at once. Jesse grappled at Eugene’s face, trying to drag it closer to his—trying to drag Eugene closer to him. But there wasn’t any distance left between them to close. Jesse’s arms slipped around Eugene’s shoulders and held him tightly, as if in a hug. The action made Eugene soften up his kisses a bit. It was a sweet gesture—whether Jesse had meant it to be sweet or not—and it made Eugene want to treat Jesse with sweetness too.

His grip on Jesse’s back eased into a gentler hold and he shifted from pulling Jesse against him to rubbing softly up his back in time with the slowed kisses. The skin beneath Eugene’s fingers was soft and warm and inviting, the sort of skin that felt like it had just soaked in the sun—the sort of skin that would taste of a glowing warmth if kisses were melted down it. It was a tempting but impossible idea, so Eugene let his fingers and palms soak up Jesse’s warmth instead. He marveled at Jesse’s perfect waist and the way his hands fit against it as he brought his fingers again to whisper over ribcage. They notched there so perfectly that Eugene settled into it, his hands locking into the dip of waist above Jesse’s hips and only gliding a thumb occasionally across lower ribs and pressing fingers carefully into shifting muscles across lower back.

“—Gene,” Jesse gasped into Eugene’s mouth with such a needy note to it that Eugene took stock of himself piece by piece to figure out what he’d done to earn _that_ sort of cry from Jesse. Eugene’s mouth was still on Jesse’s, working him over slowly, his hands still held firmly against waist, also lethargic in movement. But, he realized as Jesse shifted against him, he’d stopped paying attention to what his legs were doing and one had slid neatly between Jesse’s, who looked flushed and ripe for the picking just now. _Especially_ after saying Eugene’s name like that. After saying it at all. Eugene was pretty sure that was a first. That felt more intimate, even, than any of the kisses they’d shared or touches Eugene had stolen. The acknowledgment of it. Of _him_ being the one to make Jesse look and sound like this. Not just anyone. But him.

_Gene._

Eugene shifted too, withdrawing his knee from where it had pressed into tree trunk.

“The sun’s gone down, it’ll be dark soon,” Eugene told Jesse softly. Jesse flicked eyes up to the darkening sky as if surprised to find it there. Eugene could relate.

“I should…probably get back to school.”

“Yeah.” Eugene pressed a kiss against Jesse’s mouth and then let his hands fall from his waist as he took a step back. “This really _was_ a very convenient coincidence,” he said in a lilting way sure to make Jesse question if Eugene actually believed it _had_ been a happy accident that he’d been zipping along in his sports car down the same road Eugene jogged along. “But let’s make the next time all the convenience with none of the coincidence.”

“Who says there will be a next time?” Jesse challenged.

“Oh? My bad, I won’t bank on seeing you again, then,” Eugene said, turning to leave and grinning when a hand clamped around his wrist.

“You can’t leave me here! Walk me back to my car, I don’t remember the way.”

“Sure.”

As they walked back to the road, Jesse’s hand slipped down Eugene’s wrist and into his grip. When they arrived at his car, Jesse didn’t let go right away. He looked from his car to Eugene, then huffed, the air disrupting the floof of his long bangs.

“Just give me your number.”

Eugene did.

With an entirely satisfied grin, he watched Jesse climb back into his car and pull away, still huffy from the indignity of having to ask a boy for his number. It wasn’t until Jesse and his flashy car were out of sight that Eugene noticed he was missing his jacket. But it didn’t matter, really, that Jesse had taken it. Eugene would be seeing him again soon enough anyway.

* * *

Jesse called Eugene two days later.

“I had a bad date,” he said when Eugene picked up the phone.

“Hello to you too.”

“Yes, fine. Hello. I could do with some comfort. When are you available?”

And just like that, they had plans. Eugene wasn’t sure he believed Jesse’s story about a bad date the first time he used it. By the third call he got with tales of bad kissing and poor chemistry and failed dates, Eugene was convinced that it was all bullshit. But he always told Jesse a time to come over and kissed him until his supposedly broken heart and wounded pride were all better.

“Is that my jacket?” Eugene asked when he met Jesse at their back door after Jesse’s most recent _bad date_. Jesse crossed his arms across his chest.

“No.”

“Don’t lie, it’s got the Kings Row crest on it right there,” Eugene laughed, poking Jesse’s chest. “Come on in, it looks like it’s gonna rain.”

The halls were empty. Eugene was impressed by his and Jesse’s continued luck in that regard. But he’d spoken too soon. The door to room 108 started to open just as Jesse and Eugene got to his room. Jesse noticed too and barely managed to slam himself behind the door before Nick appeared in the hall, squinting suspiciously at Eugene and the just-slammed door behind him.

“That your new guy?” Nick asked. “Why’s he hiding?”

“He’s just shy.”

Nick snorted.

_Yeah, I deserved that one._

“I didn’t realize he was a secret, I thought you were just not kiss and telling.”

“I am just not kiss and telling.”

“No way, Eugene, that was a guilty reaction.” Nick pointed to the door. “Who have you got in there?”

“None of your business.”

“But—,”

“But if you want to talk about romance, I’d love to hear about yours and Seiji’s.”

Nick blinked at him like a goldfish.

“Uh,” he said, “I shouldn’t get into details.”

“Me either.”

Nick lingered another moment, then seemed to give it up with a shrug and a laugh.

“Whatever. But it sure sounds like you guys have got chemistry for days.”

Eugene waved Nick off with a laugh before slipping into his room after Jesse.

“Who was that?” Jesse asked curiously, clearly unfazed by Nick’s commentary on Jesse’s inability to be quiet.

“That, my dude, was the boy Seiji was comparing your kisses to.”

“Really?” Jesse’s interest was piqued and he stood from the bed as if to peer out the door after Nick, but Eugene caught him around the waist before he made it far, collapsing them onto the bed.

Jesse landed on top of him, sufficiently distracted from his previous task of seeing who Seiji had deemed a better kisser than him as he situated himself to his satisfaction. Eugene offered Jesse a smile as he looked up at him, legs straddling his hips and hands planted on his chest. Jesse returned Eugene’s gaze with an appraisal of his own.

“Is this more like what you’re used to?” Eugene asked Jesse, working his hands up the back of Jesse’s shirt and coaxing him in closer, suggesting gently that he lean over enough to get this started.

Jesse allowed Eugene to press a curve into his back and he bent over, hands leaving Eugene to find purchase and support on the mattress on either side of his head.

“Closer to,” Jesse answered haughtily, inches away from a kiss.

Jesse’s legs squeezed around Eugene when the inches between them disappeared. Eugene didn’t mind it or the unsteady weight of Jesse against him, changing frequently as Jesse shifted positions. Blond bangs tickled against Eugene’s face as Jesse kissed him, and he caught up the strands in a handful, holding them to Jesse’s head, but they kept escaping his grip.

Jesse’s shirt hung off him enough for Eugene to see down it from this angle and he couldn’t resist the temptation of kissing down Jesse’s neck and across a fine collarbone and down as much chest as was readily available to kiss. He made sure to run his hand across all that he couldn’t easily get to with his lips. Jesse emitted a series of gasps and sighs, his body teetering again as Eugene teased it.

“Eugene,” Jesse whined, sending a pleasant shock through Eugene. “I don’t like this as much.”

The pleasant charge through his limbs and fingers was gone just like that and Eugene withdrew his hand from under Jesse’s shirt as quickly as he could.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I don’t like holding myself up,” he complained and the breath returned to Eugene’s lung as the worry left him.

“That,” Eugene said, pressing a kiss against Jesse’s chest through his shirt, “we can fix.”

With a heave, Eugene flipped them, framing Jesse between his arms. Jesse reached up to grab Eugene’s face and tug him down. Eugene resumed kissing Jesse, still a little cautious. But Jesse didn’t have patience for Eugene’s caution and he dragged one of Eugene’s hands to his chest again.

“I prefer this,” Jesse declared, spread across the pillows and looking the picture of comfort. It suited him. “Much less work.”

“What a convenient coincidence,” Eugene murmured, kissing Jesse, and then kissing him again for good measure, hand back up his shirt and running across ribs. “I like this too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> during the editing process of this chapter I ended up adding like 500 words to it because I'm a dumb slut


	4. Kissing it Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tris, this whole damn fic is for you but this chapter is like....(for you)²

“What does Seiji like?” Jesse asked idly, tucked against Eugene’s side on his bed and scrolling through his phone. This—the half-way snuggling—had snuck up on Eugene without him noticing. Now, when Jesse came over, this was part of it too. Just…hanging out.

“Huh?”

“Seiji,” Jesse repeated. “If he doesn’t like kissing me, what does he like?”

“I told you. Kissing Nick.”

“What’s _he_ like?”

“He’s cool. Really funny and a great frie—,”

“I meant with kissing.”

Eugene’s mind screeched to a halt. Kissing Nick?

“I literally do not know,” Eugene said firmly, flicking Jesse’s ear. Jesse cupped it with a pointed _ow_ and a glare. “I have never kissed Nick or Seiji and that’s the way I like it.”

“You can’t _flick_ me,” Jesse said, distracted by Eugene’s abuse.

Unthinkingly, Eugene leaned to kiss the ear when Jesse’s hand fell from it. It had been a route action meant to stop Jesse from complaining but Eugene’s brain only caught up with his lips after the fact. There was no way _kissing it better_ would work on Jesse Coste. But, it seemed to. Jesse didn’t rag on about the petty hurt, but his ears did seem quite a bit pinker than they had a moment before.

“I just don’t see why Seiji reacted so poorly to me,” Jesse complained, back to his first order of business. “How could he think I’m _terrible?”_

“I keep telling you, he wanted someone else’s kisses.”

“But objectively—,”

“Kisses aren’t always objective, bud. But maybe he just didn’t like the way you kiss.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

“Excuse me? What’s wrong with the way I kiss?”

“Nothing,” Eugene said, hands up, “not if you ask me. But…different people like different things, that’s all.”

“What about it do you think he didn’t like?”

“I don’t know, Jesse.” But Eugene could tell Jesse had decided to fixate on this. “Here,” he said, sitting up properly from his slump against the wall and displacing Jesse from his chest. “Kiss me the way you kissed Seiji that night. Walk me through it.”

Jesse frowned, thinking hard.

“We got dinner,” he said, “at Riverhorse on Main, of course. Then we walked around, that area is very charming.”

“Right.”

“And when we got back to Kings Row afterward, it was still rather early so I parked my car and…”

Jesse leaned into Eugene and he could imagine the center console, the hiss of seatbelt as it was pulled, could imagine Jesse unbuckling to turn his body more comfortably into Seiji. His mind rebelled at the image and he was surprised to realize how deeply he disliked the idea of Jesse kissing other people. But then Jesse was kissing him and the hiccup in Eugene’s mind smoothed out.

Eugene let Jesse do all the heavy lifting, let him show his side of the equation without Eugene’s input and the resulting reaction—the chemistry. He took note of the aggressive show Jesse put on, just the same as Eugene had noticed the first time they’d kissed before finding their footing with each other. Yeah, he could feel the press of Jesse’s mouth and the stronghold of his hand and the conscious thought behind it all. The calculated effort like a set of memorized lines delivered flawlessly but still missing something. Eugene could feel _that_ too, the way Jesse seemed to want something more, something different, but didn’t know how to get it.

When Jesse pulled away, Eugene could see that hint of unsatisfied want under his smug smile.

Eugene couldn’t help it. He laughed. Jesse’s grin fell away.

“What?” He demanded angrily.

“Sorry, it’s just—you kiss like you think you ought to instead of how you actually want. Man, did you even _like_ kissing Seiji?”

Jesse’s brow wrinkled like he’d never thought to consider it before.

“I didn’t like him telling me I’m a terrible kisser and he didn’t want to see me again before bolting out of my car.”

“Yeah, that never feels good. But did the kissing?” Eugene pressed. “Did kissing Seiji feel good to you?”

“I…I guess it wasn’t exactly _great,_ but…”

“Different people like different things,” Eugene repeated, dragging Jesse to him by the hips. “I think you two just aren’t…compatible.”

“No?” Jesse asked, hands twining into the wide straps of Eugene’s tank top. “But we are?”

“Isn’t that why you keep coming back?”

“Point taken. Show me, then, how I want to be kissed.”

“Why don’t you show me?” Eugene challenged.

“Make me.”

“Dangerous words.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I could take you.”

 _“Take_ me?”

“Yeah, in a fight. Bet you I could make you.”

Jesse gave him an appalled look, flirtation falling away.

“I doubt that,” Jesse said snidely. “I’m the top fencer in the nation.”

“But I’m stronger.”

“Are not. You’re so short.”

“Those are fighting words,” Eugene hooted, grinning merrily as he grabbed Jesse and tossed him into the mattress in one easy, fluid motion.

Jesse stared at him in disbelief for a split second before a determined expression took his face and he scrambled up, launching at Eugene. He wasn’t weak, nor light, and Eugene was knocked by the force of his attack, but Jesse was no match for him. Didn’t have the experience of wrestling hissing, spitting little sisters, and a gang of little brothers and rowdy friends. And Jesse’s body was crafted perfectly for fencing with its agile limbs and its graceful, perfectly toned muscle. Eugene’s was built like a tank, sturdier, heavier, _stronger_ than Jesse, whose extra height did him no good here on the bed.

Eugene loved roughhousing and Jesse was a worthy opponent. He proved difficult to pin, always bucking and squirming his way out from under Eugene. But he also played dirty, yanking on Eugene’s hair when he caught him in a headlock—luckily, Eugene _did_ have experience wrestling hissing, spitting little sisters, and hissing, spitting little sisters _also_ played dirty, so Eugene kept a firm hold and ground a knuckle rub into Jesse’s hair in retribution. He got bitten.

“Ouch!” Eugene called, more from surprise than actual hurt, though Jesse hadn’t spared any force with his chomp on Eugene’s arm.

Jesse wriggled free of Eugene’s arm and grabbed for the pillow, using it to beat at Eugene, who was laughing so hard that he almost let himself get pinned, Jesse sitting astride his hips and pushing the pillow mercilessly over his face. Eugene reached blindly for Jesse and found the familiar shape of his chest. He found his way into armpits and tried a tickle attack—a dirty move, but not as dirty as suffocation. Jesse convulsed. _Bingo._

“Stop—!” Jesse gasped through giggles, but Eugene didn’t.

The pillow was abandoned as Jesse’s hands flew to pull at Eugene’s, his body doubling over, curling up atop Eugene’s chest to try and protect himself from Eugene’s fingers, but it was impossible. Laughing was a fatal disadvantage in roughhousing, it took extra air and attention, made you extra vulnerable. And Jesse was the one laughing now, so Eugene took advantage.

Jesse still scrabbled hopelessly against Eugene’s arms as he whispered tickles down Jesse’s ribs. Then he grabbed Jesse fast and flipped them one last time.

“Ow!” Jesse cried, trying to knee Eugene viciously in the stomach. But Eugene caught the leg before he managed it and held it against his hip firmly, locking the other leg between his own—a risky move, but Jesse was exhausted and Eugene was confident he could keep him contained.

Eugene caught hands that came flying for his face—whether to scratch or pull again at hair, he couldn’t be sure—and forced them back down on the mattress by the headboard. Both of Jesse’s wrists fit in Eugene’s hand, but only barely. It was Jesse’s exhaustion, the fight draining from him, that allowed the move to succeed. Eugene wasn’t taking any chances, he pushed them hard into the bed. Jesse emitted a low growl. No, not a growl. It was closer to a groan.

Eugene looked down at Jesse then, chest heaving and face cheerily pink with yellow hair splayed carelessly around him. But slowly, Eugene’s grin slid away as he realized where he had Jesse. He could see the shift in Jesse’s expression as he noticed it fully too.

Eugene loosened the grip he had on Jesse’s wrists that pinned them in place above his head on the bed. Jesse didn’t move.

“You’re too rough, Eugene,” Jesse said. “I think you bruised my ribs.” Eugene laughed at the complaint. “It hurts!”

“Liar. If you’d been seriously hurt, you’d have made it known before now.”

“I’m not a liar.”

“Yeah you are. You’re just sulking because you lost. Told you I was stronger.”

“I’m serious, you’re a brute.”

“Where did you say it hurts?” Eugene asked. “Your ribs?”

Jesse nodded.

Cautiously, Eugene released his grip on Jesse’s thigh, sliding his hand up it all the way to sharp hipbone. Jesse’s leg stayed in place, no longer interested in burying knee into gut, so Eugene dipped his fingers under Jesse’s sweet yellow sweater and the white button-down underneath it. Jesse’s breath, already uneven from the wrestling, hitched as Eugene pushed both layers up his torso, scrunching it up high on his chest.

There were no bruises on Jesse’s pale skin, over his ribs or otherwise. But Eugene brushed his fingers gently over Jesse’s ribcage anyway, as if inspecting for breaks. Then he bent to kiss the very much intact ribs. He covered Jesse in so many kisses, he expected to be pushed away and told off for being ridiculous. He wasn’t.

Jesse’s heart thrummed under Eugene’s lips.

“How's that? Are you all better now?” Eugene asked quietly, barely pausing in his kisses, which were trailing now higher up Jesse’s chest, tracing the outline of a pec and venturing to grander prizes.

“A little,” Jesse said, expelling a gasp at Eugene’s next litany of kisses. Eugene didn’t linger here, though. His self-control was running low as it was.

So he left his mission of apology kisses and let his eyes take in the view of Jesse with shirt hiked up and lashes fluttering and lips parted. Gorgeous. The most gorgeous thing Eugene had ever seen.

Jesse didn’t miss the admiration in Eugene’s gaze and there was that insufferable smile, smug and self-satisfied. It was an interesting and oddly appealing contrast with his current configuration.

“I believe I asked you to show me how it is I want to be kissed,” Jesse tempted.

And Eugene was weak to temptation in the form of gorgeous boys on his bed asking to be kissed, so he did. He kissed Jesse long and slow, teasing open his mouth as one hand splayed over Jesse’s thumping heart and the other held his wrists. Jesse arched up into him and one hand pulled easily free of Eugene’s grasp to burrow into his hair, the pulls he gave it now more pleasant than the ones he’d yanked out earlier.

As Eugene kissed Jesse, his grip slid from Jesse’s remaining wrist and his fingers somehow found Jesse’s to tangle with above his head.


	5. For the World to See

“Maybe,” Jesse said, perched in Eugene’s lap, “it’s not kissing that I’m bad at.”

Eugene frowned, not entirely sure he liked where this was going. But Jesse was a difficult person to deter before being heard out so Eugene leaned his back against the wall and settled his hands on Jesse’s hips, drawing him a little closer.

“It’s definitely not kissing you’re bad at,” Eugene agreed slowly.

“Stop staring at me like I’m a harlot.” Jesse shoved Eugene’s shoulder with a pouting displeasure.

But it was a perfectly reasonable assumption, Eugene maintained, to think Jesse had graduated from kissing onto talking about sex. Eugene wasn’t really interested in that for the purpose of _testing_ if Jesse was good at it. Even their kissing arrangement was growing—not tiring, exactly. But exhausting. Jesse continued to insist that he only came over to have Eugene lick his wounds.

“Then what are we talking about here, Jess,” Eugene asked, “if you’ve decided you believe you’re a good kisser but I’m not supposed to stare at you like you’re a harlot?”

Jesse shrugged up one shoulder and tilted his head to blink sweetly at Eugene through long eyelashes.

“Could I try giving you a hickey? And you can tell me if I’m any good at it?”

Eugene gave an incredulous laugh, watching Jesse. He at least had the decency to color at his request.

“You want me to test your hickey-giving capabilities?”

“Yes.”

“Man, _you_ are testing my patience.”

“Fine, if you don’t want to, that’s all you had to say.”

Eugene held Jesse firmly in place, keeping him from climbing off and, probably, storming out of Eugene’s room.

“I didn’t say that,” Eugene said placatingly. Jesse needed placating all the time, but Eugene had found that he wasn’t particularly hard to placate, either, so it wasn’t such a big deal to just give him whatever words he needed to hear most the time. “Sure, I don’t mind if you wanna give me a hickey.”

Jesse hesitated, perhaps weighing if Eugene was properly enthusiastic and if he was willing to be placated without throwing a fit and leaving to prove that he _didn’t_ want to give Eugene a hickey or any of the rest of it enough to stay without good reason.

He decided to settle back in Eugene’s lap and lead in with a kiss—a little thing that left Eugene wanting more, but he let Jesse’s mouth fall from his to kiss softly across his face. The sweetness of these kisses made Eugene’s hands leave Jesse’s hips to circle around his back, hugging him to his chest closely. Jesse made a little protesting noise at the reduced maneuverability of this position, but he didn’t actually pull out of Eugene’s arms or bat them off of him. 

Jesse finished kissing along Eugene’s jaw and nestled into the crook of his neck, finding a spot he deemed fit to receive the hickey. A low laugh rumbled through Eugene at the choice in spot; too high up on his neck for him to have any hope of hiding it. But nobody would be surprised to see it given the ruckus Jesse made whenever he came over, so Eugene had no reason to stop Jesse from his task.

Much like his more insistent kisses, Jesse’s techniques were more forceful than anything; he sucked at Eugene’s neck like a vampire but the change between the harsh, insistent nipping and the sweet kisses Jesse covered the spot with felt perfectly nice.

Eugene’s hand had found its way to Jesse’s hair—he liked Jesse’s hair a lot and the reaction he got from playing with it or tugging at it. He often found a hand tangling up in it if he stopped paying attention to them. So he worked his hand through Jesse’s hair as Jesse worked over the throbbing skin on his neck.

When Jesse finally sat back to admire his work, there was a definite smirk tugging up his pinked lips. He didn’t really think he was bad at any of this.

“So?” Jesse asked, leaning in so close that his nose almost bumped against Eugene’s. “What did you think?”

“I think that you’re damn bold, leaving a hickey in such an obvious place.”

“That’s half the point of a hickey,” Jesse told him, mouth ticking down at the distinct lack of praise. “To mark someone as taken. That doesn’t work unless you leave it somewhere for the world to see.”

“Uh-huh,” Eugene said, unimpressed. “Maybe half the reason all those dates of yours fall through is that you see people as possessions instead of _people.”_

Jesse’s face scrunched in offense, but then he huffed and shook his head, hair flopping.

“That can’t be the problem. Who wouldn’t want to be known as mine?”

“Uh, me, for starters,” Eugene said automatically.

This time when Jesse’s face scrunched, it did not smooth out again so easily. Eugene felt Jesse’s retreat in the shifting of his weight and the stiff, guarded tension to his muscles as he started climbing off Eugene’s lap and off his bed.

“Then it’s a good thing you’re not,” Jesse said tersely. “I’m sorry if the hickey gives you trouble with all your other pursuits—,”

“Woah,” Eugene said, standing up after Jesse. “You’re the one with three dates a week, not me.”

Jesse flushed. Floundered. Eugene waited to see if he was going to fess up or dig in. He did neither. Jesse turned to flee. Eugene should have expected that. He let Jesse get all the way to the door. Let him grab the knob to yank it open. Eugene really didn’t have time to bother with Jesse’s drama just for some kisses. Good kisses, sure, but Jesse wasn’t the only person Eugene had ever had chemistry with. Wasn’t the only person he liked kissing. The kissing wasn’t worth putting up with everything else for.

Eugene slid an arm around Jesse from behind to still his body, his other hand overlapping Jesse’s on the silver knob.

“Let go,” Jesse said. “I’m leaving.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t want me here.”

“When did I say that?”

“Just now, when you said you—when you were mad about the hickey.”

“I’m not mad about the hickey,” Eugene said, easing Jesse’s hand off the knob. “Why are you mad about it?”

“I’m not.”

“Wrong answer. You’re mad that I said I don’t want to be marked as the exclusive property of Jesse Coste.”

“You’re the one that let me give you that mark,” Jesse snapped. “It’s not my fault if you regret it. Now let go!”

Jesse yanked his hand out of Eugene’s. Eugene backed off, hand up, not touching Jesse. Jesse hesitated before reaching for the knob again. Eugene suspected his final decision to seize and twist it was made to prove a point. Eugene wasn’t telling Jesse what Eugene was almost certain Jesse wanted to hear and so Jesse intended to make him hurt for it. He stomped out of the room, just like Eugene had foreseen him doing. But if Jesse was going to act like a petulant child and refuse to use his words, he could stomp off like one too.

Eugene sighed, blowing air out his lips as he frowned at his closed door.

He’d let Jesse storm off. But the farther Eugene let that storm blow away from him, the harder it would be to chase back down. And he’d decided, hadn’t he, that he wanted to catch that storm? It would be so much easier, Eugene reckoned, if storms could be reasoned with. It might do Jesse some good to _learn_ how to meet people halfway.

Eugene turned from the door, decision starting to solidify. But it slipped when his eyes landed on the jacket on his bed. It was the navy blue of Kings Row and had the school crest proudly emblazoned on the chest. He’d been issued it at the beginning of the year with the rest of the Kings Row uniform arsenal. But Eugene didn’t consider the jacket his. Not anymore. Eugene remembered peeling that jacket off Jesse only an hour or so ago, kissing goosebumps along pale arms. Jesse had forgotten it.

A thought almost as discomforting as the idea of Jesse kissing other people occurred to Eugene. What if Jesse, stubborn and petulant as he was, hadn’t forgotten the jacket? What if he’d left it and didn’t plan on getting it back? Didn’t intend to shamelessly wear a jacket from another school— _Eugene’s_ jacket—again. Almost like…

_That’s half the point…To mark someone as taken…_

“Fuck.”

Eugene scooped up the jacket and left his room in as big a hurry as Jesse had vacated it before him. He barreled down the stairs but wound around to a rarely-used side entrance. He thought…

Jesse sat on the top step of the staircase where they’d first properly met. First properly kissed. His pants would be all dirty from the concrete. He didn’t look up or move when the door opened, or when Eugene draped the jacket over his shoulders. But when Eugene sat down next to him, slender fingers closed around the edges of the jacket and pulled it close around him.

“If you wanted to warn off other people with this,” Eugene said, tapping his neck, trusting Jesse to pick up on the motion even if he refused to look at Eugene directly, “then I have to tell you it was a pointless gesture. You’re the only one I’m kissing right now. If you wanted to test your skills, then congratulations, you’ve got them. If you wanted to test me, then I’m sorry to break the news to you, but I’m done with these games.”

“And I was leaving,” Jesse said, stiff-backed and tight-voiced. “So why try to stop me? Why come after me?”

“I’m done with these games. But I don’t want to be done with you, Jess.”

Jesse turned his head toward Eugene, fingers clutching tight into jacket.

“You said you didn’t want to be mine.”

“I don’t. I’m not interested in being your possession.”

“What if I didn’t want you as a possession?”

It was just possible this was going to be easier than Eugene had expected.

“What do you want me as?” He prompted.

“A boyfriend?” It was said so much quieter than Jesse ever did anything, so unsure and hesitant.

“You should have just said so,” Eugene exhaled another sigh that turned into a laugh that turned into a grin. He bumped his shoulder into Jesse. “In that case, I’m all yours.”

A relieved smile broke briefly through on Jesse’s face. He tried to play it off but Eugene could still see it in the corners of his eyes as he swept to his feet and crossed to the door. Eugene looked at him, nonplussed but still smiling lightly as Jesse pulled his arms into Eugene’s old jacket and then crossed them suavely across his chest as he leaned himself back against the door in a casual, taunting manner.

“What are you still doing all the way over there?” Jesse asked, one golden brow arched in question.

Eugene knew there wasn’t really any hope of ever being done with Jesse’s games. But he was sure of the rules now and ready to play, ready to answer all of Jesse’s little tests.

“For the record,” he said, raising and coming to stand in front of Jesse, untangling a pale hand from Jesse’s crossed arms to press a kiss against, “I think I like you.”

“Think?” Jesse asked imperiously as Eugene kissed his way up Jesse’s arm.

“Can’t be sure yet,” Eugene teased, kissing his shoulder through his layers. “I’ve spent most our time together kissing you. But,” he said before Jesse could interject, “I’ve liked all the time in between kissing you just as much.”

Jesse debated whether this confession was acceptable. He must have found it worthy because his fingers curled into Eugene and Eugene could hear the light thud of Jesse’s head hitting the door. Convenient. Eugene had been just about to move on to kissing up Jesse’s neck and now it was prettily exposed for him.

“For the record,” Jesse murmured, “I only went on one date after Seiji ditched me.”

“I know.”

Jesse harrumphed. Eugene chuckled, chasing the vibration of the irritated huff with his lips, lingering on a spot just under Jesse’s sharp jaw.

“You may,” Jesse said before Eugene could even ask.

Eugene bit the spot gently and teased it only lightly, but when he pulled off to kiss the skin, he found it already blooming in shades of purple. Eugene was amazed that he hadn’t accidentally marked Jesse up before if his skin took to it this easily. But Eugene wasn’t done working his hickey into Jesse’s skin, even if it had taken to the task more readily than expected. He took his time with kissing and nipping at the spot, sucking, too, but in a more subtle manner than Jesse had done.

“Bold of you,” Jesse said breathily when Eugene slowed in his work, “to leave a hickey in such an obvious place.”

Eugene kissed Jesse’s neck one last time before pulling away. Jesse’s head tipped down to look at him.

“Now the whole world knows you’re taken.”

Eugene’s hand slid down Jesse’s chest, brushing over the crossed swords of Kings Row. Maybe the whole world had known Jesse was taken for longer than Eugene had realized.

“Hypocrite.”

“Not at all. You’re my boyfriend, you _are_ taken.”

“So are you,” Jesse pointed out.

“I know. _Now_ I am. Doesn’t change the fact that I technically wasn’t yours when you left a big warning sign on me.”

“I don’t think it really matters now,” Jesse grouched. Eugene thought about it.

“I guess it doesn’t,” he decided, slipping a hand into Jesse’s hair and pulling him down for a kiss.

Jesse really was good to kiss. But it wasn’t really the kisses that had kept Eugene inviting Jesse back over and back into his life. It was the kisses but it was something else too. Something about his ridiculous, pompous attitude and unshakable confidence coexisting with his needy vulnerability.

Jesse sighed into Eugene’s mouth and Eugene wanted to hear more from him. It was Jesse’s own fault for being so forthcoming with his voice, it made Eugene want to draw it out all the time. He slid his hand up Jesse’s shirt, pressed into him, flicked his tongue into his mouth—

Eugene was suddenly careening forward, Jesse tipping backward.

“Wha—?”

Eugene realized they were falling too late to catch them. All he could do was hold Jesse’s head to him and thrust out a forearm to catch the brunt of his weight. Jesse let out a startled exhale on impact, his tight hold on Eugene loosening enough to drop his torso and head to the floor softly.

“Oh shit!” Nick said, staring down at them. “I didn’t realize there was anyone here—oh _shit,_ is that Jesse Coste?”

The ruckus of their fall and Nick’s loud exclamation was enough to summon more feet pounding down stairs. Soon, Eugene’s entire fencing team and then some crowded in the doorway and looked down at Eugene and Jesse in shock. Eugene looked down at Jesse too, flat on his back and shirt pulled out of place from the hand Eugene had had up the front of it before roughly tugging it free to catch them.

“Jesus Christ,” Eugene groaned, pushing himself off the floor and reaching down to help Jesse up too. Jesse hurriedly yanked his shirt back into place but there wasn’t much for secrecy anymore.

“Seiji?” Jesse asked curiously, eyes slipping down to the hand holding Seiji’s, then back up the arm that hand belonged to. “Oh, then _you’ll_ be Seiji’s boy.”

“Sneaking out for a late-night date, it looks like,” Eugene agreed.

“Naughty, naughty,” Aiden sang gleefully.

“At least _we_ weren’t making out against a public door,” Nick protested. Seiji went faintly pink at the idea and nobody missed it. Eugene had never seen that boy color before. “People use this entrance, Eugene.”

“They do not,” Eugene dismissed. “Usually.”

“Can we revisit the fact that Eugene’s had snooty little Exton team leader moaning up a storm in his room for the last month?” Aiden asked. _“Or_ that our little Nick seems to have melted our resident ice princess’s heart? I feel like there’s a lot going on here and people say _I’m_ the source of all the relationship drama in this school,” he _tsk’_ d.

Eugene looked at the faces of his friends, all in varying states of surprise, and laughed.

“Consider this the last relationship drama you’ll get out of me,” Eugene said. “I’m settled now.”

Then, taking a leaf out of Nick and Seiji’s book, Eugene took Jesse’s hand in his for the world to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus concludes our first (but probably not our last) true Eugesse kissing fic! Thank you so much for reading this one lmao I know it was a lil ridiculous but it was a buy one get one free deal on kissing fics in my brain and y'all should know I can't resist a BOGO sale XD 
> 
> I love you all to bits and pieces and hope you enjoyed!!! 💜💜💜 (and Tris I hope you're satisfied knowing now that Eugene _does_ get to kiss Jesse in this universe ~~and all universes lbr~~ <3)


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